Graduations

Celebrations often leave a lot to be desired.

I was thinking of this as I attended my son's recent college graduation recently.  The ceremony was great.  I mostly enjoyed the speeches and presentations.  I was thrilled to watch him cross the stage in this celebration of the completion of the last vestiges of his childhood.

Graduations serve their purpose as a celebration of accomplishment and as a marker of time.  It is important for all involved (students, instructors, parents) to have a capstone celebration for something that is as intense and involved as many years of college, or high school, or graduate school, or military academy, or trade school, or...

Yet, I couldn't help but think that even the most tightly run, most carefully choreographed celebration that involves a whole group, or class, of people, is bound to have some time in which large portions of the audience aren't interested.

One of my son's friends said he thought it would be better if the college had an all night party, everyone watched the sunrise together and the president of the college handed out diplomas at breakfast.  He is probably right if the ceremony was only for the graduates.  Most parents would be happy if the college played Pomp and Circumstance, read only their child's name, and then invited the parents up on stage to take photos.  Most professors would probably prefer to leave things on the departmental level.

My point is that while big accomplishments deserve to have a big deal made of them, organizations should pay attention to the purpose of the celebration and the perspective of the participants and the targeted stakeholders.

While its not necessary to compete with the sunrise when hosting a celebration, understand that for some in your audience, that is an alternative.